Children of the Shire
by Dedicatedfollower467
Summary: A collection of drabbles about the childhoods of Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin, mostly from the POV of minor hobbit characters. Where possible I try to stick to Tolkien's canon, but obviously much is my own invention. After all, we know very little about hobbits!
1. The Gift of Mortals

**Title:** The Gift of Mortals

**Author's Notes:** I am a terrible, terrible person. See end for more notes.

* * *

"Gaffa! Gaffa!"

Hamfast stood upright as soon as he heard the cry. He would recognize that voice anywhere, and normally he would pay it little heed, but for the strong note of panic. His youngest son was in great distress, more than a little tumble down the hill or a cut on his knee.

"What is it, Sam?" he called out, wiping his earth-crusted hands against his trousers.

Samwise shot around the corner and very nearly crashed into his legs. There were tears on his round face, streaked with dirt. Tiny hands tugged on his clothing as he looked up.

"Gaffa, it's Mummy." Normally Ham would correct his pronunciation of the nickname, but when he realized what his son was saying, he found himself freezing in place. "She's with Goldie an' she won't wake up."

"Take me to her," Ham said. When his son hesitated, he repeated it more strongly. "Take me to Mummy, Sam."

Sam nodded once and then took off as fast as his stout legs could carry him. Hamfast followed close on his heels. They reached their home at Number Three, and Sam paused on the doorstep, pointing inside.

"There, Gaffa," he said.

Ham entered the house slowly, letting his breath catch up to him. "Bell?" he called out, "Bella, darling, are you there?"

There was no answer. He could feel Sam's little head pressed against the back of his knees, hands fisted in his trouser legs for comfort. Ham crept towards the bedroom his three daughters shared. Sam shook his head suddenly.

"No, other room, Gaffa."

Sam was trembling, and Ham rested a comforting hand on his son's head. Then he went, more urgently now, to the room that belong to him and his wife.

The instant he saw his wife and daughter, he felt as though he couldn't move. Bell lay at an unnatural angle, one foot twisted under her uncomfortably, her head resting oddly against the bedpost. She looked as though she had collapsed against the floor. His youngest child, Marigold, lay against her breast, breathing softly.

"Bell? Bell!" he said, rushing into the room and lifting his wife's body. He didn't have to hold her long to recognize the unnatural stillness and coldness of her usually vibrant, warm form. "No," he found himself whispering, pulling her to his chest and rocking her back and forth. "Oh, no."

"Gaffa?" Sam whispered from where he stood at the doorway. Hamfast looked up over his shoulder at his son, his youngest son, the son who would, like as not, never remember his mother.

The tears were already beginning to squeeze out of his eyes when he spoke to his son. "Go find your brothers and sisters, Sam," he said.

"But, Gaffa –"

"Now, Samwise!" Terrified eyes watched him for a moment before his little Sam turned and ran from the house.

He oughtn't to have shouted at his son, but neither did he want the child to see his mother – or his father – like this. Putting little Marigold gently upon the bedspread, he cradled his darling Bell to his chest, sobbing.

He didn't hear or notice when Sam came back into the room until he felt the gentle touch of his son's hand against his shoulder. "Confusticate it, Samwise Gamgee," he snarled, turning on his very young son, but Sam didn't back down.

Sam was holding Marigold against his hip, her arms wrapped sleepily around him. There was a sort of soft sorrow in his eyes, and combined with his tender hands around his sister, it made him look far older than his seven years. "Mummy's gone now, ain't she?" he said.

Ham found himself dissolving into tears again. "Yes, Sam," he whispered, "Mummy's gone."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** We don't know what happens to Bell Goodchild, but she's never mentioned in the actual text of the Lord of the Rings, giving rise to the belief that she probably died long before the events that occur in the story. The idea came to me that maybe she died when Sam was still very young, and that maybe this is the reason why Sam tends to be so protective and sensible. He's known since he was very young that things don't always go the way you want, and it's best to be prepared for the worst while hoping for the best.

Anyways, hope you didn't become too upset.


	2. Popping Ps

**Title:** Popping Ps

* * *

"P"s had been the first sound Pervinca had figured out. Between Papa, Pearl, Pimpernel and, of course, Pervinca, Puff (as her family called her) could pop those Ps like anything.

In fact, she'd gotten so good at "p" that a lot of other consonants were spontaneously transmuted. Take Gs for instance. Instead "Good morning" it was "Pood moanin'." R and L were also a struggle, and in general Puff had great difficulty in making herself understood to Pearl and Pim.

When her little brother was born, it came as no surprise to anybody that she called him "Peweppin." Although many people were surprised, many years later, to learn exactly how the Thain got his childhood nickname.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Pervinca is NOT an OC. Go look her up.

**Edit:** Changed Pervinca's nickname from "Perf" to "Puff" because I think it's cuter.


	3. Warrens and Burrows

**Title:** Warrens and Burrows

* * *

In Brandy Hall, it's hard to feel like an only child, as Berry well knows. Other hobbits in the Shire call the hall a warren, and, to be fair, it's not far off. The tunnels and burrows in the hall are usually crowded with cousins, second cousins, third cousins, cousins once or twice removed, aunts and uncles younger than you are, and various friends and family constantly underfoot.

But sometimes, it can make you feel even more like an only child. Because being an only child means that there's nobody around to stick up for you.

It's not that his cousins are bad people, but sometimes they're mean. Especially to Meriadoc.

Merry's always been weird. Not bad weird, not really, but always a little odd. Uncle Doc and Aunt Esmeralda tend to keep him apart from the other cousins, and he's always quiet, a thinker. Even Berry, who's always kind of liked his younger cousin, thinks he's strange.

The older cousins pick on him. A lot. They pick on Berry too, but only because Berry's a blond and therefore a little out-of-place among generally dark-haired hobbits of the Shire. They pick on Merry because he's quiet and too thoughtful for a kid his age.

Berry's not much older but he can't help feeling a little guilty when he watches a group of older cousins push Merry to the ground. Over, and over, and over again.

So when they've gone away, he goes over and helps his cousin to his feet.

"C'mon, Merry, what are you doing," he says, "Get up. Let's get you home."

Merry smiles weakly. "Thanks Berry."

Merry is Berry's closest cousin. He decides to try to look out for him more often.

After all, they're family.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **No, Berry isn't an OC either. His full name is Berilac Brandybuck.

Being an only child is a pretty unusual thing for a hobbit, and I think it explains a lot about Merry.


	4. Unfriendly Gossip

Lily Cotton doesn't believe what folks say about Bilbo Baggins and his young ward.

For one thing, Mr. Baggins hasn't ever looked at Tom or Jolly or Nick strangely, or any of the boys that live here in Hobbiton, and she'd know it if she had. Besides, Gaffer Gamgee is the best judge of character in the Shire, and he lets his boy Sam play up in the garden at Bag-End. Sam plays with her own sons, and she knows him well enough to know he'd never let Mr. Baggins do any sort of bad things to him. Granted, he _is _teaching the boy his letters, but while that's a mite above his station, it's not wrong, not perverted.

Not like what people say.

And she's met young Master Frodo. He's a bit older than her Tom and Gaffer's Sam, but he's still a boy as any other hobbit boy. Lily's noticed what other people have noticed; that he's a bit odd, sort of lonesome, that he watches with his big eyes and doesn't touch others much and doesn't often speak.

But what she has noticed, that other folk apparently haven't, is that Frodo is happy, and healthy, and inquisitive. He smiles, and his smiles are enormous; whenever he plays with young Sam, or when he's absorbed reading, the smiles he gives could light up all Hobbiton. It's Frodo who drags the children out to go looking for adventures like in his Uncle Bilbo's tales, little Sam always hot on his heels. True, Frodo doesn't speak much, but it's not the manner of a child afraid to speak, but rather the manner of a mature young man who thinks more than speaks.

Frodo's eyes look older than his is, wise beyond his years. But Lily supposes losing your mother and father could do that to you. The rest she puts down to being part Brandybuck and living in that warren down to Brandy Hall for so long.

No, she doesn't think Bilbo's been touching the boy wrong, or looking at him wrong, or any of the other perverted things the gossip informs her. She thinks Frodo is just a lonely little boy who lost his parents, and Bilbo's a lonely old man who's taken him in.

In that sense, they're very much a pair. And they're good for each other.


End file.
